Flexible Member for Angled System

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an instrument that may an interior tube and an external tube. The exterior tube may be fixed relative to an interior tube, where the interior tube may rotate or oscillate relative to the exterior tube. Further, the two tubes may be co-bent such that an angle is formed by both of the tubes.

FIELD

The subject disclosure relates to a flexible tube, and particularly to atube that is configured to be bent to a selected position for aprocedure.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

An instrument may be used to perform a procedure on a subject. Thesubject may include animate and inanimate objects. In various examples,an instrument may include a movable portion to assist in cutting orresecting tissue. The tissue may include human bone or soft tissue of asubject patient.

An instrument may be desired to have a hollow interior, including alumen. The lumen may extend from a first terminal end to a collectionarea, such as in a collection container. Suction may be provided to drawmaterial through a lumen and an irrigation liquid may be provided anddirected through a lumen. It may be desired, however, to separate, witha liquid seal, a lumen that may be substantially coaxial with thesuction lumen, even if the two lumens are curved over a portion of theirlength.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not acomprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

An instrument can include an interior portion and an exterior portion,such as an interior tube and an external tube. In various embodiments,the exterior tube may be fixed relative to the interior tube, where theinterior tube may rotate or oscillate relative to the exterior tube.Both the interior tube and exterior tube may be coupled to a handle ormotor portion, such as the exterior tube being fixed and the interiortube being moved by a motor. Further, the two tubes may be co-bent suchthat an angle is formed by both of the tubes relative to the handle.

Further, in various embodiments the inner tube may be formed of severalpieces. The inner tube may, however, remain substantially liquid andgas-sealed between an interior wall and an exterior wall of the tube.The tube assembly may then be positioned to allow for excision oftissue, such as a tumor or other tissue (including both hard and softtissue). Various positions may include ear, nose, and throat (ENT)procedures or other small diameter procedures. Further areas ofapplicability will become apparent from the description provided herein.The description and specific examples in this summary are intended forpurposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only ofselected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is an assembled view of an instrument including a bent tubeextension;

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of the bent tube taken along line1A-1A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the instrument assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an assembled view of an internal tube of the assembly of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the tube assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of a portion of the inner tube;

FIG. 7 is a detailed view of an alternative external coat, and

FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view take along line 7A-7A in FIG. 7.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, an instrument assembly 10 isillustrated. The instrument assembly 10 can include a handle oroperating portion 16 and an tube or operating assembly 20. The tubeassembly 20 extends from the handle 16 at a first proximal end 22 to asecond distal working end 24. Both of the ends 22, 24 may be terminalends. The handle 16 may include various connections including a suctionconnection 30, an irrigation connection 32, and a power connection 34.The power connection 34 may be an appropriate power connection such as apneumatic power, electrical power, or the like to power a motor assembly40 that may be positioned within the handle 16. The motor 40, therefore,can be an appropriately powered motor, such as an electrically poweredand pneumatically powered motor.

The motor 40 may be operably interconnected with an inner tube 50, suchas at a first end 22 b of the inner tube 22 at or near the first end 22of the tube assembly 20. The tube assembly 20 may further include anexterior tube 54. Each of the tubes 50, 54 may extend from the firstterminal end 22 to the second terminal end 24. However, according tovarious embodiments, the external tube 54 may be fixed to the handle 16while the inner tube 50 may be powered by the motor 40 to rotate and/oroscillate relative to, such as within, the outer tube 54. Therefore, theinner tube 50 may extend a distance greater than a distance of the outertube 54. For example, the outer tube 54 may engage the handle 16 whilethe inner tube 50 extends to engage the motor 40 and extends beyond afirst distal terminal end 24 a of the outer tube 54 to a second terminalend 24 b.

The tube assembly 20 may include a bend or angled region A. The angle ofthe angled region A may be any appropriate selected angle and mayinclude a radius rather than a discrete or sharp angle from the firstend 22 to the second end of the tube assembly 20. The angle may beformed by bending the outer tube 54 to maintain the inner tube 50 at theangle A. Thus, the outer tube 54 may be malleable so that it may be bentwithout collapsing. The inner tube 54, as discussed further herein, maybe flexible or at least flexible at the bend region and will also notcollapse when bent. The outer tube 54 may be bent to maintain a shapewhile the inner tube 50 may be flexible and would not maintain a bentshape if not for the outer tube 50.

The angle A may assist in defining or forming the tube assembly 20 toassist in performing various procedures such as resection of tissue invarious nasal or sinus cavities or for performing other procedures. Asdiscussed further herein, the inner tube 50 may rotate or oscillate toperform a resection or removal of selected bone tissue. As furtherdiscussed herein, the inner tube 50 may include a lumen 60 such that amaterial resected with the distal end 24 b of the inner tube 50 may besuctioned through the lumen 60 with a suction source provided throughthe suction connection 30. The lumen 60, therefore, may form a sealedliquid path through the inner tube 50.

The outer tube 54 may also have a lumen in which the inner tube 50 isplaced. With reference to FIG. 1A, a cross-section taken along lines1A-1A of FIG. 1, a passage 53 between the inner tube 50 and the outertube 54 forms a second liquid flow path. As discussed herein, the liquidflow path within the lumen 60 may be sealed from the liquid flow paththrough the passage 53. The passage 53 can allow for irrigation of anarea near the working end 24 b of the inner tube 50. For example, asaline or other fluid can be passed through the irrigation port 32 toirrigate a portion of the working area during a procedure. The sealbetween the two passages 60, 53 may be maintained during movement of theinner tube 50 relative to the outer tube 54.

With continuing reference to FIG. 2 and additional reference to FIG. 3,the inner tube 50 is illustrated. The inner tube 50 may include variousregions or portions including a first proximal rigid region or portion64, a distal rigid region or portion 66, and an intermediate flexibleregion or portion 68. As discussed further herein, the intermediateflexible region 68 can allow the inner tube 50 to be bent in a selectedmanner, such as in the bent region A. However, the flexible region 68can maintain a seal between the rigid portions 64, 66 and transfertorque from the proximal rigid portion 64 to the distal rigid portion66.

The rigid portions 64 and 66 may be formed out of selected materials,such as stainless steels, titanium or titanium alloys, or other selectedmaterials. In various embodiments, the distal tip 24 b of the inner tube50 may include a sharp or cutting edge, which may be a straight sharpedge or serrated sharp edge, for performing a procedure. Accordingly,torque produced by the motor 40 can be transferred along the long axisof the inner tube 50, even if bent as illustrated in FIG. 1, to allowthe inner tube 50 to rotate around the longitudinal axis of the innertube 50 to rotate the cutting end 24 b. The axis of the tube assembly20, including the inner tube 50 and the outer tube 54, may be bent.Further, more than one bend or radius maybe formed. The amount of torqueproduced at the cutting end 24 b may, however, be reduced from theamount produced at the proximal end 22 b.

With continuing reference to FIG. 3 and additional reference to FIG. 4,the inner tube 50, including the proximal rigid portion 64, the distalrigid portion 66, and the flexible intermediate portion 68 can extend aselected distance between the two ends 22 b and 24 b such as about 5inches to about 6 inches. It is understood, however, that the inner tube50 can be provided in a selected distance or length for selectedprocedures.

The flexible intermediate region 68 can include at least two layers,such as an inner thermoplastic tubing portion 74 and an outer mesh orwire portion 78. The inner tube portion 74 and the outer mesh portion 78may be interconnected with the rigid portions 64 and 66. Theintermediate portion 68 allows for a transfer of torque between theproximal rigid portion 64 and the distal rigid portion 66, as discussedfurther herein, even across the angled portion A.

With continuing reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 and additional reference toFIG. 5, the inner tube 50 may be formed by interconnecting the two rigidportions 64 and 66 with the intermediate tube 74. The intermediate tube74 may be a selected polymer tube, such as a thermoplastic polymer. Thethermoplastic polymer of the intermediate tube 74 may allow theintermediate tube 74 to be flexed or bent while maintaining a seal alongthe entire length of the inner tube 50. A thermoplastic tubing 74 mayfurther be able to transfer appropriate torque to the distal end 24 bunder various operation conditions, such as low speed or low torque.Nevertheless, the outer coat 78 may allow for transfer of greater torqueor force to the terminal end 24 b from the motor 40.

The first rigid portion 64 may be provided as a first rigid member thatextends between a first end 64 a and a second end 64 b, where the endsmay be terminal ends. The second rigid portion 66 may be provided as asecond rigid member that extends between a first end 66 a and a secondend 66 b. The intermediate tube 74 may include an external diameter thatis substantially equivalent to an external diameter of the first andsecond rigid members 64, 66. The intermediate tube 74 may further havean internal diameter that is substantially equivalent to or slightlylarger than an outer diameter of a connecting portion 82 at or near thefirst end 64 a of the proximal rigid member 64 and a connecting region84 at the first end 66 a of the second or distal rigid member 66.Therefore, the intermediate tube 74 may be pressed-fit over theconnecting regions 82, 84 at respective terminal ends 86 and 88 of theintermediate tube 74. It is further understood that various bonding orcoupling procedures may be provided such as laser welding, adhesives, orthe like to interconnect the rigid members 64, 66 with the intermediatetube 74.

The outer coat portion 78 may then be passed over the rigid tube member66 or rigid tube member 64 and over the intermediate tube 74. Theintermediate tube 74 may include a length 90 that is less than a length92 of the outer coat 78. Therefore, the outer coat 78 may include twoend regions 94 and 96 that extend beyond the length of the intermediatetube 74 and overlap the rigid members 64 and 66.

The outer coat 78 may be bonded to the rigid members 64 and 66,according to various mechanisms, such as laser welding, adhesives, orthe like. As the length 92 of the outer coat 78 is greater than thelength 90 of the intermediate tube 74, the outer coat 78 may be bondedto the respective rigid members 64, 66 a distance from the connectingregions 82 and 84. Therefore, a substantially rigid torsional connectioncan be formed between the proximal rigid tube 64 and the distal rigidtube 66 that is separate from the intermediate tube 74.

The outer coat 78 may be formed of a material or construction thatallows flexibility while being able to transfer torque. In transferringtorque, the second or distal rigid member 66 may rotate when powered bythe motor 40. Thus, rotation of the proximal rigid member 64 istransferred to the distal rigid member 66 though the outer coat 78.

With continuing reference to FIG. 5 and additional reference to FIG. 6,the outer coat 78 may be formed of a plurality of wires that are twistedtogether. It is further understood that the outer coat 78 may be formedof a plurality of wires that are woven together in a mesh form. Theouter coat 78, therefore, can include a plurality of wires 100 wound ortwisted. The tightness or the winding or twisting may be selected forvarious conditions.

At an end of the coat 78, such as the ends 94, 96, the plurality ofwires may be bonded to the respective rigid members 64, 66. When bonded,the coat 78 allows for transfer of torque from the motor 40 through theproximal rigid member 64 to the distal rigid member 66. The distal rigidmember 66 may then rotate and the distal terminal end 24 b may cut orabrade a selected portion, such as tissue of a patient, according to anappropriate procedure.

The outer coat 78 may transfer torque to the cutting end with a selectedefficiency. Further, the outer coat 78 may transfer bi-directionaltorque as the multiple wires 100 are bonded to the respective rigidmembers 64 and 66. The plurality of wires bonded at both ends may assistin providing appropriate bi-directional (e.g. rotating both left andright) during use. It can be selected, however, to have a two separateof the outer coats 78 where the individual wires of the two coats aretwisted in opposite directions (i.e. one coat twisted to the left andanother coat twisted to the right). Further, the frequency of the turnsof the wire 100 and the gauge of the wire 100 may be selected toincrease torque transfer and/or select the amount of flexibility.

Turning reference to FIGS. 7 and 7A, an outer coat 278 is illustrated.The outer coat 278 can be used in place of the coat 78 in theintermediate tube portion 68. As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 7A, a flatwire member 280 may be wound around an axis 282 to form a spiral orhelix. As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the wire 280 may include a width 286that is greater than a height 290. The width 286 may be a selected ratiosuch as 4:1 to 100:1 relative to the height 290. Therefore, the flatwire 280 can be wound such that the wire 280 extends from a first region294 to a second region 296 similar to the regions at 94 and 96 of thecoat 78. The regions 294 and 296 may extend beyond the thermoplastictubing 74 and may be coupled to the rigid members 64, 66 in a mannersimilar to the coat 78.

The wire 280 may be wound in any appropriate frequency. For example, thecoils of the wire 280 may touch one another or be spaced apart, asillustrated in FIG. 7. The tightness of the coil may be based upon aselected flexibility to be achieved in the flexible region 68 thatinterconnects the rigid member 64 and 66. It is understood that the coat278 may have the wire 280 wound or twisted in a single direction, i.e.right or left. Thus, to provide torsional power for torque transfer inboth a right and left direction, e.g. oscillating rotation, two of thecoats 278 may be used. If two coats are used, one of the coats istwisted to the right and the other is twisted to the left. Both of thecoats may be bonded together or separately to the rigid member 64, 66.

Torque may be transferred with the inner tube 50 using either of thecoats 78 or 278. A single one of the coats 78 may transfer more than oneof the coats 278. If both a right and left hand twisted coat 278 isinterconnected between the two rigid members 64, 66, however, the amountof torque transferred may be substantially the same.

Regardless of the selected coat 78, 278 that is fixed to the rigidmembers 64 and 66, the inner tube 50 may be positioned within the outertube 54 and coupled to the handle 16, as discussed above. The assemblyincludes the lumen 60 through the inner tube 50 which can allow suctiongenerally in the direction of arrow 300, as illustrated in FIG. 4.Further, as discussed above, irrigation may be provided in the space,such as the annular space 53 between an outer wall of the inner tube 50and an inner wall of the outer tube 54 to allow irrigation generally inthe direction of arrow 302, as also illustrated in FIG. 4. Therefore,irrigation and suction can be provided near the working tip 24 b of theinner tube 50 during a procedure.

In various embodiments, the inclusion of the thermoplastic tube 74allows for maintaining a liquid and gas seal for separation between thelumen 60 and the passage 53. Therefore, during an entire procedure,irrigation and suction can be maintained even as torque is applied tothe working end 24 b for performing a procedure, such as a resection.The assembly of the outer tube 54 and the inner tube 50 to the handle 16can be according to any appropriate mechanism, including those generallyunderstood in the art. The inclusion of the inner tube 50, however, canallow for maintaining suction irrigation during an entire procedure.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled inthe art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples ofspecific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not beemployed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many differentforms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of thedisclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes,well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are notdescribed in detail.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or featuresof a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particularembodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be usedin a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An instrument assembly operable to rotate atleast a flexible tube portion of the instrument assembly, the flexibletube comprising: a first rigid member having a first lumen and a firstend; a second rigid member having a second lumen and a second end; and aflexible portion having a third end coupled to the first end of thefirst rigid member and a fourth end coupled to the second end of thesecond rigid member; wherein the flexible portion has a third lumen;wherein the first lumen, the second lumen, and the third lumen areconfigured to be coupled to form a first liquid flow path; wherein theflexible portion is configured to transfer a working torque from thefirst rigid member to the second rigid member.
 2. The instrumentassembly of claim 1, further comprising: an external tube having afourth lumen; wherein the external tube is configured to extend over theflexible tube; wherein the external tube has an inner wall thatcooperates with an external wall of the flexible tube for a secondliquid flow path through the fourth lumen.
 3. The instrument assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the flexible portion includes: an inner polymer tubeextending a first distance from the third end coupled to the first endof the first rigid member to the fourth end coupled to the second end ofthe second rigid member; and an external coat formed of a plurality ofwires twisted around the inner polymer tube extending a second distancefrom a fourth end to a fifth end; wherein the second distance is greaterthan the first distance; wherein the fourth end is coupled to the firstrigid member beyond the inner polymer tube and the fifth end is coupledto the second rigid member beyond the inner polymer tube.
 4. Theinstrument assembly of claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of wiresextends the second distance.
 5. The instrument assembly of claim 1,wherein the flexible portion includes: an inner polymer tube extending afirst distance from the third end coupled to the first end of the firstrigid member to the fourth end coupled to the second end of the secondrigid member; and an external coat formed of a flat wire twisted aroundan axis of the inner polymer tube extending a second distance from afourth end to a fifth end; wherein the second distance is greater thanthe first distance; wherein the fourth end is coupled to the first rigidmember beyond the inner polymer tube and the fifth end is coupled to thesecond rigid member beyond the inner polymer tube.
 6. The instrumentassembly of claim 3, wherein the inner polymer tube is a thermoplasticpolymer.
 7. The instrument assembly of claim 1, further comprising: amotor coupled to the flexible tube to provide a torque on the firstrigid member.
 8. An instrument assembly, comprising: a flexible tubeextending from a first flexible tube end to a second flexible tube endand having a flexible tube lumen that is a first sealed flow paththrough the flexible tube, including: a first rigid member extendingbetween a first end and a second end and a first lumen extending throughthe first and second ends, wherein the second end is the first flexibletube end, a second rigid member extending between a third end and afourth end and a second lumen extending through the third and fourthends, wherein the fourth end is the second flexible tube end, a firstflexible portion extending between a fifth end coupled to the first endof the first rigid member and a sixth end coupled to the third end ofthe second rigid member, wherein the flexible portion has a third lumen,a single second flexible portion positioned over the first flexibleportion including a twisted member, wherein a first twisted member endis coupled to the first rigid member separate from the first flexibleportion and a second twisted member end is coupled to the second rigidmember separate from the first flexible portion, wherein the firstlumen, the second lumen, and the third lumen are configured to becoupled to form the flexible tube lumen; a malleable tube extending froma first malleable tube end to a second malleable tube end and having amalleable tube lumen that is a second sealed flow path through themalleable tube; wherein the flexible tube is positioned within themalleable tube; wherein the flexible portion is configured to transfer aworking torque from the first rigid member to the second rigid member.9. The instrument assembly of claim 8, wherein the first flexible tubeend is configured to cut tissue.
 10. The instrument assembly of claim 8,further comprising: a motor configured to provide torque to the secondflexible tube end.
 11. The instrument assembly of claim 10, wherein theflexible tube is configured to rotate within the malleable tube when themotor is providing torque to the second flexible tube end.
 12. Theinstrument assembly of claim 11, further comprising: a vacuum sourceconfigured to provide suction through the first sealed flow path whilethe flexible tube is rotating; an irrigation source configured toprovide an irrigation liquid through the second sealed flow path whilethe flexible tube is rotating.
 13. The instrument assembly of claim 11,wherein the twisted member of the second flexible member includes aplurality of wires twisted together between the first twisted member endand the second twisted member end.
 14. The instrument assembly of claim11, wherein the twisted member of the second flexible member includes asingle flat wire twisted between the first twisted member end and thesecond twisted member end.
 15. A method of forming an instrumentassembly operable to rotate at least a flexible tube portion within amalleable tube of the instrument assembly, comprising: fixing a firstrigid member at a first position to a first end of first flexiblemember; fixing a second rigid member at a second position to a secondend of the flexible member; fixing a first end of a twisted member tothe first rigid member at a third position away from the first position;fixing a second end of the member to the second rigid member at a fourthposition away from the second position; and providing a sealed liquidflow path through the first rigid member, the first flexible member, andthe second rigid member.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:positioning a malleable tube around all of the first rigid member, thesecond rigid member, the first flexible member, and the twisted member.17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: bending the malleabletube into a selected configuration while maintaining the sealed liquidflow path.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising: forming asecond sealed liquid flow path between the malleable tube and all of thefirst rigid member, the second rigid member, the first flexible member,and the twisted member.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:rotating the first rigid member to cause at least the second rigidmember to rotate while maintaining the sealed liquid flow path.
 20. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising: simultaneously irrigatingthrough at least one of the sealed liquid flow path or the second sealedliquid flow path and suctioning through the other of the sealed liquidflow path or the second sealed liquid flow path.